Symposium on unidentified flying objects: hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, second session, July 29, 1968.

125
local
imperfections
in
the
crystal,
or
foreign
atoms,
create
lines
of
stress
con-
centration
that
move
rapidly
through
the
crystal,
producing
deformation.
If
these imperfections,
or
dislocations,
could
be
eliminated,
the
theoretical
strength
of
the
crystal
lattice
itself
might
be
approached.
This
strength
is
on
the order
of
millions
of
pounds
per
square
inch
for
many
materials.
Carefully
prepared
1
4
inch
diameter
glass
rods,
etched to
remove
microscopic surface
cracks
and
then
lacquered,
have
withstood
stresses
of
250,000
psi
for
one
hour
(C.
J.
Phillips,
American
Scientist, v.
53, no.
1,
p.
32).
Fused
silica
fibers
have
been
stressed
to
2,000,000
psi.
Thus,
foreign
atoms
within
a
crystal
lattice
are
focal
points
for dislocations—
points
of
stress
concentration
where
the
crystal
lattice
itself
tears
and
slips.
We
can
imagine
that
a
high
-purity
crystal,
free of surface
and
internal
imper-
fections,
would
achieve
fantastic strengths.
Indeed, with
the
advent
of
iron
whiskers,
and
boron
fiber
reinforced
composites,
we
are
already
approaching
some
of
these
strengths,
but
only for
extremely small diameter
fibers.
Should,
by
any
good
fortune, further
samples
of
UFO
material
be found,
there
may
be
further
clues
that
would spur our
research
into
high
-strength
materials,
and
perhaps
give
us
hints
of
how
to achieve
super
-strength
in materials
that
are
larger
than the
tiny
fibers
we
have
produced
so
far.
Needless
to
say,
if
we
persist
in
denying the
reality
of
UFO's,
we
will
not be
looking
for
such
samples,
and
may
indeed
reject
them
as
having
no
importance
when
they
are
brought
to
our
attention.
Mr.
Rousn. Are
there questions?
i
Well,
if
not,
let's
go
to
our
next
participant.
Our
next
participant
s
Dr.
Robert
M.
L.
Baker,
Jr.
Dr.
Baker,
again
we
recognize
your
own
eminence
in
your
field,
and
we
are
very
happy
to
have
you
here as
a
participant in
this
sym-
posium.
You may
proceed.
(The
biography of
Dr.
Baker,
Jr.,
is
as
follows:)
DR.
ROBERT
M.
L. BAKER,
JR.
Dr. Baker
is
a
36
year
old
scientist
who
received his
BA
with Highest
Honors
in
Physics
and
Mathematics at
UCLA
in 1954,
and
was
elected
to
Phi
Beta
Kappa.
In
1956
he
was
granted
a
MA
in Physics,
and
was
the
recipient
of the
UCLA
Physics
Prize.
In
1958
Dr. Baker
received
a
PhD
in Engineering,
which
was
the
first
of
its
kind
to
be
granted
in
the
nation
with
a
specialty
in
Astronautics.
With
respect to his
academic background,
Dr. Baker
was
on
the
Faculty of
the
Department
of
Astronomy
at
UCLA
from
1959
to
1963. Since that time
he
has
been
on
the
Faculty of the
Department
of Engineering at
UCLA
where he
currently
offers
courses in
astronautics,
fluid
mechanics,
and
structural
me-
chanics.
Dr. Baker
is
an
internationally
recognized
expert in various
fields
of
science
and
engineering.
He
was a
research
contributor to
the
development
of
prelim-
inary
orbit
determination procedures
utilizing
radar
data,
astrodynamic
constants,
near
free-molecular flow
drag—all
utilized
in
the
nation's
space programs.
He
has
also
developed
unique
theories in
the area of
hydrofoil
marine
craft design.
In
private industry
Dr. Baker has
initiated,
supervised,
and
conducted
research
programs
in
astronautics, physics,
fluid
mechanics, mathematics,
and
computer
program
design.
He
has
contributed to
problem
definition
and
analysis
of
scien-
tific
and
engineering
problems
in both
industrial
and
military
projects.
Dr.
Baker's
industrial career
began
in
1954 as
a
consultant to
Douglas
Aircraft
Company. Between 1957 and
1960 he
was a
Senior
Scientist
at Aeronutronic-
Philco-Ford.
While
in
the Air Force during
1960 and
1961,
he
was
a
project
officer
on a number
of
classified
Air Force
projects.
Between
1961
and
1964
he
was
the head of Lockheed's Astrodynamics Research Center,
where he
di-
rected
the
efforts
of approximately
25
scientists
in various
scientific
areas.
In
1964 Dr. Baker
joined the
Computer
Sciences Corporation
(CSC),
first
as As-sociate
Manager
for Research
and
Analysis,
and
later
as the Senior
Scientist
of
CSC's System
Sciences subdivision.
In
this latter
capacity
he
is
currently in-
volved in several Air Force,
Navy,and
NASA
projects.
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